Memory 1 · Build-up Relay
If memorising feels difficult,
start with just three items
You try to learn twenty English words,
then realise you have already forgotten the first one.
Sound familiar?
Being good at memorising does not have to mean learning everything at once.
Here is a method I recommend: the Build-up Relay.
Start with just three
Let’s use vocabulary as an example.
You do not have to start with ten or twenty words.
Start with just three.
play
study
watch
Practise until you can say all three without looking.
Add just one more
Once you can say the first three, add a fourth.
play
study
watch
visit ← one more word
The important part is this:
do not learn only “visit”; say the whole list from the beginning.
Then add another
Next,
play
study
watch
visit
enjoy ← one more word
Keep adding one item at a time.
You do not drop the earlier items and learn only the new one.
Take the baton from your earlier self, add one item, and pass it on.
That is why I call it the Build-up Relay.
Why can it help?
Sometimes the amount you are trying to remember is simply too large.
Twenty items at once may feel overwhelming.
What about three?
That is a more manageable place to begin.
Then add one.
Then another.
Smaller steps can make the task feel less overwhelming and easier to stick with.
Use it beyond vocabulary
This method is not only for English words.
Kanji
Science terms
Historical figures
Dates
Classical Japanese vocabulary
Try it with the facts or terms you need to learn.
It can also be useful when the order matters.
Give it a try when preparing for a test.
Memory is not just a talent
“I’m just bad at memorising.”
Perhaps you have thought that yourself.
The difficulty may be in your approach, rather than your ability.
Start with three.
Once you know them, add one.
Then another.
That is all.
But keep going, and you may notice something.
Yesterday you could say three.
Today, ten.
What you could not remember last week now comes more easily.
It feels as if you are taking small steps,
but looking back, you have come a long way.
One step.
Then one more.
Before you know it, you are beginning to run.
You are making your d’ASH.
That is how d’ASH sees growth.
